Khachanov Through To Semis in Marseille

Karen Khachanov advanced to his first ATP World Tour semi-final in eight months by defeating France’s Julien Benneteau, the 2010 runner-up, 6-4, 6-4 in 84 minutes at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille on Friday. "It was quite a solid match,” said Khachanov. “I didn’t make many first serves in the first couple of games, getting broken in my first service game, but then I got stronger."

The 21-year-old Russian, who struck 16 aces past Benneteau (for 35 aces overall in three matches this week), reached the Gerry Weber Open semi-finals (l. to Federer) in June 2017. The last Russian to contest the Marseille final was Yevgeny Kafelnikov, a former No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, who beat Sebastian Grosjean of France for the 2001 title.

Khachanov will next face fourth-seeded Czech and 2013 finalist Tomas Berdych, who led seventh seed Damir Dzumhur 7-6(4) when the Bosnia & Herzegovina player retired due to illness after 56 minutes of play.

Lucas Pouille celebrated his 24th birthday the best way possible with a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4 win over Filip Krajinovic. The Frenchman's serve was firing throughout the three-set match, as he hit 20 aces and saved three of four break points. After the match, Pouille was presented with a birthday cake.

"I don't remember winning a match on my birthday," Pouille said. "It's maybe the first time and it's very nice to celebrate on court with the crowd. We both served very well. In the end I was just trying to put the ball into the court. It was a very tough match against a great player."

Pouille, runner-up at last year's event (l. to Tsonga), will play qualifier Ilya Ivashka for a spot in the final. The Belarusian blasted 13 aces to rally past Nicolas Mahut 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 and book a place in his first ATP World Tour semi-final. Ivashka is the first Belarusian to advance to a tour-level semi-final since Max Mirnyi at 2005 Rotterdam. It is the 23-year-old’s third tour-level event.